Fashion and Age?

Bela Pratt, Fountain of Youth

We’ve all heard the adage ‘dressing for your age’ but what does it really mean? In a fashion world where rules are increasingly being thrown into abandon, designers change their mind about what’s good and bad left, right and center, and trends from our teens coming back into play, is there such a thing left as ‘age appropriate’?

Over the years, the main age laws were generally mainly about miniskirts, short dresses and shorts. In my opinion, the rules shouldn’t be defined simply by a number, there are people aged 40 who look better in certain clothes than others aged 20, there are people who can make a pair of shorts look chic and glamorous and others who can make a smart top look cheap. My point is – it’s all about the final look and how you piece the items together rather than the individual clothing items and applying age rules to them.

What should change after a certain age, is your fashion knowledge, your body shape knowledge and the quality of your garments.

Fashion mishaps should now be at a minimum once you bypass your teens and twenties. It is a fact, that a teenager can get away with cheap-looking clothing much more than an older person can, there are certain shops that primarily deal in disposable fashion that should mainly be left for the younger crowds. As a more mature woman, your clothing garments and image do need to reflect your status and personality, wearing cheap-looking clothing can make you look more careless and award you less respect from your peers.

This doesn’t mean you need to break the bank or spend more than you can afford but as you grow older it should become less important to have every new trend that hits the high street. It might be worth spending your money more wisely and investing in a few key pieces of higher quality that will last for many years. Of course there are always the bargain exceptions, but you have to find these!

Ultra girly clothing is another one that will need to be avoided past a certain age, what looks cute and sweet on a young girl can look weird on a 40 year old. The most important thing however, is knowing your body, the older you grow the more you should pay attention to what looks good on you, what suits your figure, what suits your skin tone, spend time learning this and you will generally always look good, no matter what you wear.

A good note to keep in mind is that no woman should be wearing the same style as their daughters, note I said style not clothes. The point being, that whilst you may be wearing the same blazer, your daughter could decide to pair it with boyfriend jeans and converse but you should pair it with tailored jeans and heels.

So there you have it – that’s my opinion on the matter, feel free to use it or ignore it!